


forget about white horses & once upon a time

by radiowrittenheart



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: A-Z, Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, F/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, just cuteness overall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-19 17:51:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11318550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiowrittenheart/pseuds/radiowrittenheart
Summary: She never needed a hero; all she needed was a friend. He had never realized how boring his life was before narwhal blasts and warnicorn stampedes. One could say that Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz are the sort of loves found in storybooks — but they both know that they're so much more than that.((A small series of Starco drabbles, full of fluff.))





	1. A—M

**Author's Note:**

  * For [loveandwar007](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveandwar007/gifts), [selenicsoulmates](https://archiveofourown.org/users/selenicsoulmates/gifts).



> y'all are just a bunch of edgelords so i took matters into my own hands  
> here's some harmless, pure cuteness for these dorks because that is what they DESERVE  
> also this is split in two because the drabbles are so fucking long  
> N-Z should be done soon
> 
> (jsyk i avoided writing all other projects and let this shit consume my soul for like a day and a half so rip reagan am i right)
> 
> also dedicating this to my group chat buddies because we are the true edgelords
> 
> [[NOTE: these drabbles sure as shit ain't in chronological order lmao like i said i just did this as an excuse to write a bunch of scenes with these dorks being cute okay bye enjoy the story]]

**Again**

Her hands shook. Her hair puffed up, the way it always did when she was surprised. Her mouth twitched from a frown, to a pout, then a lopsided grin.

“W-what did you say?” Star asked.

“I,” Marco felt his mouth go dry, his throat lock up. He wasn’t nervous. 

He, too, was surprised— by himself. What he had said, it was a slip of the tongue. A beautiful, strange and almost perfect slip of the tongue, he had just been trying to comfort her and now… now Marco Diaz found himself smothered in a hug, Star shaking with every breath as she held on tight.

“Say it again,” she mumbled, threading her fingers through his soft brown hair.

He licked his lips, as if he were thirsty. He cleared his throat, and held on tight to her too. “I… I love you,”

She let out a muffled laugh, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “ _ Again _ ,” 

Her tone of voice was light, chipper, back to typical Star. Marco turned his head slightly to look in her eyes, and in Star’s eyes, he saw the sky.

“I… I love you, Star Butterfly,”

A squeal escaped her, just as she planted a kiss on his lips, grabbing the sides of his face eagerly. She laughed, she smiled, she looked like the happiest girl in the world— and she certainly felt like it. And for a second, it almost seemed like there were sparkles in her eyes. “I love you too, Marco Diaz,”

The words suddenly filled Marco with warmth and he couldn’t hold back his own grin.

“Say it again,” he chuckled.

 

**Band**

The first Love Sentence concert Star went to certainly would not be her last, as much as she thought that would be the case when she had left the arena on that painful, unforgettable April evening. But here she was, much later on down the road, at the last Love Sentence concert.

The farewell tour for the band that provided the soundtrack to some of her wild, lovely teenage years.

“ _ Wherever I go, _ ” Exaggerated harmonizing, with just a dash of obvious autotune. _ “Girl, you bring me home, yeah, you do…” _

Home. Just as the band repeated the chorus once or twice, enough to drive the crowd wild, Star felt a pair of strong, soft arms wrap around her from behind. Marco leaned in, smiling against her skin before he gently kissed her jawline.

And when he began softly singing along to the ridiculously sappy song, Star could have sworn she melted.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she giggled. “You’re my home too.”

 

**Classic**

“ _ That’s _ a classic fairytale?!” Star spluttered out. “Where was the army? And the bad guys?!” She took the book from Marco, flipping through the pages to find … whatever it is she was looking for. “And where’s the rest of it?!”

Marco hesitated, nervously glancing to the thirteen tadpoles sitting anxiously in front of them.

Babysitting never seemed to get easier, did it?

“That’s it, Star,” he admitted. “Prince Charming rescued the Princess and they lived happily ever after.”

Ignoring the explanation she had been given, Star kept flipping through the book, turning it upside down, almost tearing pages out, before Marco grabbed her arm to keep her from ruining the storybook. He paused, then smiled at her, despite her pout.

Star huffed; “Earth has a lot of awesome things but fairytales is not one of them. I’ve got a classic story for you, one straight outta Mewni!”

 

**Dance**

“Where did you— oh,” 

Whatever Marco was going to say had run off the second he took in the sight before him. Maybe it was a personal bias or just pure fact, but Star looked  _ amazing _ in red.

“I, uh, I got this from your dad,” Star admitted sheepishly. “He had this stored up in the attic. It was his mom’s, I think, I dunno, I just… I thought you would like it.” She flapped open the fan with all the grace of the princess she was, and even behind it, Marco just knew she was grinning.

He stood there for only a moment more before bowing elegantly. “Princess Butterfly,” he mused. “May I have this dance?”

“You may,” Star giggled. “And… you should probably lead. These shoes are kinda killing me,”

“As the lady wishes,” Marco said, taking Star’s hand to pull her close. “Tango or salsa, milady?”

There was a moment’s pause as Star clapped her fan close, then knit her brow. “Isn’t salsa something you dip chips in?” she asked.

Marco didn’t miss a beat and he sighed; “I have  _ so much _ to teach you…”

 

**Emblems**

“Uh, Star?”

There were many different versions of that simple statement. There was ‘ _ what did you do _ ’ and ‘ _ what do we do _ ’ along with the occasional ‘ _ what the heck is that _ ’ but usually, it was the easiest way for Marco to say ‘ _ i have no idea what’s going on _ ’.

“Wha— yeah?” Star mumbled tiredly.

She had just gotten comfortable in Marco’s arms, and the rain outside was a really good lullaby. What could possibly be wrong now?

“Is there a reason your cheeks are glowing like that?” Marco asked, hesitantly poking the pink hearts on his girlfriend’s cheeks. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen them do that before…” He yelped when the glowing nearly became blinding in the dimly lit bedroom.

Star shifted, then took a moment to think before her mouth fell into a soft “oh”.

“What? Is it, like, a Butterfly family version of the Bat signal? Is Mewni in danger?” Marco frantically went on.

“No, no, it’s a good thing!” Star yelped. “No one’s in danger,” She lifted her hands up, cupping Marco’s face, rather than forcefully grabbing it as she had done before. This gentle action caused the glowing to diminish, then slowly start to pulse. “It, uh, it lets me know when… when things are right, y’know?”

“Right?” Marco asked hesitantly.

“After a while,” Star hesitated for a second. “Something inside a Butterfly _ just knows _ . She knows where she belongs. With who she belongs,”

Pressing his forehead against Star’s, Marco gave a twitching smirk. “Oh,” he whispered. “Well, that’s… good.”

 

**Flight**

“I don’t trust this, but I trust you,”

“Thanks? I think?”

Star adjusted her stance on the edge of the block, fluttering her baby blue eyes closed and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. At this rate, it just came naturally, it all happened before she could even register— her mind, her heart, her soul all synced and… and became one, if that made sense. Who was she kidding?

She was Star Butterfly. She never made sense.

“Um, Star?” Marco asked, his voice just a tad bit wary. “Are you—” His words quickly morphed into a yelp as Star suddenly hopped up, shrouded in a violet glow.

And then suddenly, Marco clung  _ for his life _ . His girlfriend could turn into a giant purple beast that seemed reminiscent of a butterfly. And fly them across town at any given time. He had no idea why he was in love with this girl, but that was something he stopped trying to figure out a long, long time ago.

 

**Goblet**

To say that Marco was perplexed was actually a bit of an … understatement. He was in full panic mode.

“What?” Star asked innocuously as she twirled the corkscrew like it was a toy, but also rather concerned at how worried her boyfriend suddenly seemed. “You okay?”

“B-but we can’t  _ drink _ !” Marco hissed. “We’re only sixteen!”

“Uh, exactly?” Star muttered.

For a solid second, he assumed it was just being Star— Star breaking the rules because some rules are meant to be broken, but  _ no _ . This was beyond her, wasn’t it? Sure, this was a big family event and no one would notice, but she was pouring them full goblets of mead, for crying out loud!

It took a moment before Star realized what Marco was getting at, then she laughed, of all things.

“Mewni’s drinking age is fifteen, Marco,” she assured. “Seriously, Earth is  _ way _ too strict about some things,” She lifted his glass, then her smile faltered a bit. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,”

A soft murmur escaped Marco as he absent-mindedly took the goblet, staring at it.

“Oh, and don’t worry,” Star whispered. “If we get too sloshed to dance, we’ll just sneak off and nap somewhere. Happens all the time at these sorts of things,”

“Lovely,” Marco sighed. He wasn’t much of a Safe Kid anymore anyway. Fighting in a war for an alternate dimension, devoting himself to a wildly wonderful magical princess… what was a few drinks at some (somewhat) royal ball? “Cheers.”

 

**Hoodie**

“I’m gonna have to buy a dozen more hoodies if you keep stealing them,” Marco observed as he threw things from side to side in his closet.

Technically, Star didn’t outright steal his hoodies, she always returned them… eventually. But typically, they were covered in weird stains — spicy nacho cheese, glitter gel pen ink, monster blood, the usual — or torn to shreds. So either way, his once-impressive hoodie collection was slowly dwindling to nothing but two.

And he was wearing one of them.

Star immediately stole the last one on the hanger, and grinned happily, propping the hood up.

“Hey, now, that’s unfair,” Marco pouted, reaching out to wrap his arms around Star’s waist. “That’s my only backup.”

“You said you were gonna buy new ones anyway,” she rebuked.

“Well, yeah, but still,” he mumbled. “Besides, you’re always stealing my stuff. I don’t have anything of yours,”

Instantly, Star squealed, and reached for her wand that was resting on her hip. Marco didn’t even have time to protest before he was zapped with a bright blue streak… and found himself wearing a bright purple hoodie, with golden strings and too many glitter patches all over.

“There!” Star beamed proudly. “Now is it fair?”

Marco could only sigh; “I guess so…”

 

**In-Laws**

“—and then I tell her, ‘no, the dog isn’t hot at all’!”

The entire table erupted with laughter, which genuinely surprised Star. She was not used to Butterfly family dinners being this lively and  _ happy _ . She couldn’t believe it. And yet, compared to all the smiles at the table, hers was definitely the widest. Her cheeks were probably going to start hurting from all this smiling, and she didn’t care one bit.

She glanced at Marco, who was blushing as he fiddled with his fork. “Gee, that was kind of a lame joke too,” he whispered to her. “The Butterflys don’t hear good humor often, do they?”

“Never,” Star murmured. “And trust me, I’ve tried.”

He stood out at the table. He was different, practically a stranger, and a downright foreigner.

And yet he fit so well.

“Hey, Heartrude! My man! You’re not stepping in any more bear traps, are you?” Marco laughed, as he went on to converse with another one of the more stoic Butterfly relatives.

Once again, the table arose into another fit of laughter and Star took Marco’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Together, they fit… in more ways than one. It was meant to be. Somewhere inside of Star, deep down, bubbling to the surface, _ just knew _ .

 

**Jackie**

“You… you understand?”

“Yeah. Totally,”

It shouldn’t have been that easy. Star felt her shoulders slump, and she frowned. “I just— I don’t want you think to me as, y’know, that kind of girl,” she mumbled. “The one who’s, like, a boyfriend stealer.”

She laughed.

Why was Jackie laughing? “Dude, trust me, you didn’t steal him,” she assured. “You always had him. I could tell he was into you before I started… whatever it was I had with him, I dunno. I just went with it. It’s high school, y’know? I’m not taking much of anything seriously now. I knew Marco and I weren’t gonna last more than a few months, especially when he was into someone else.”

“What?” Star asked. “H-he always liked me?”

“I think so,” Jackie admitted. “He just didn’t know it at first, y’know? He seems like the golden good guy sometimes, but he’s a regular teen like the rest of us. Seriously, it’s whatever, though. I’m happy for you guys. I, uh, I was kinda with everyone else, wondering when you’d get together.”

Star paused, then nodded slowly. She had never been so happy to talk to her boyfriend’s exgirlfriend.

“Thanks, Jackie,” Star whispered, yanking the other girl into a hug.

 

**Kiss**

It was far from how Marco imagined it. He thought maybe there’d be a grand orchestra playing somewhere, or it’d be at a ball, school dance, something like that. Then he realized he should probably stop watching so many rom coms, because his first kiss with Star was far better than anything he could imagine up. She was all mouth and just enough hands, pouncing right on him during their formerly christened Friendship Thursday. Now that they were together sort-of-but-not-really… well, they were trying to rename it but that was another matter.

The movie was terrible, anyway. He liked paying attention to her instead.

Marco kinda just… sat there. He was taking it all in, Star’s sudden impulsive  _ “what the hell just go for it”  _ actions and her soft lips, his hands shook as he reached up for her—

“I am  _ so sorry _ ,” she blurted out, her baby blue eyes suddenly going wide.

“D-don’t!” Marco stammered. “D-don’t be,” He bit his lip, faintly tasting Star’s vanilla lip gloss.

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” she mumbled. “Was that too much? I — I mean, I know you said you wanna take it slow, w-we’re not even boyfriend and girlfriend yet—”

“Hey, hey,” Marco whispered. “We are.”

Those labels had terrified him before, but now, with Star in his arms, blushing and smiling and just being herself, he can’t believe he ever held back. He tried to hold back the faltering awkwardness that was part of his nature, but alas. In the midst of getting closer to her, the remote and the popcorn all tumbled to the ground. But neither of them didn’t seem to care. Star just giggled and soon, Marco found himself enjoying their second kiss and _ third _ and  _ fourth _ ...

 

**Language**

“No, no, no— higher pitch, higher pitch!” Star demanded.

Marco tried his hardest not to pout. “I can’t get my voice any higher, Star,” he argued. “Seriously, my throat is starting to hurt,”

Star frowned, folding her arms. “My dad has a lower voice than you, Marco, and he can speak Mewnian perfectly,” she argued. “Now, c’mon, you gotta learn the entire dictionary by next Friday. If you come to the Mewnian Tricentennial Ball with me and you can’t speak Mewnian, it’s not gonna be fun!”

“I don’t think Tricentennial is a thing—” Marco tried to argue, but alas, he was drowned out by Star’s … teaching.

Her voice quickly morphed from a sweet, peppy melody to high-pitched trilling, almost shrieking. A few clicks in between were emphasized points. Marco’s head was spinning as he tried to keep up with it, trying his best to repeat it. However, human vocal cords were clearly not as diverse as that of a Mewman’s.

“W-wait, just… slow down!” Marco spoke up. “I can’t understand a word you’re saying,”

Star sighed, exasperatedly running a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “But this is the first ball I’m running, all by myself. Everything has gotta be perfect.”

Marco smiled as he leaned in, pressing his forehead against Star’s. He breathed deep, taking his hand into hers and kissing the back of it. Then, his voice went as high as he could let in, his tongue clicking softly and his voice vibrating.

_ “Hey. You’re gonna do great. I believe in you,” _

Star blushed, her entire face as pink as the hearts on her cheeks.  _ “ _ **_You’re_ ** _ doing great,”  _ she assured. _ “Sorry for snapping at you.” _

 

**Mexican**

“Another grand adventure of Star and Marco, completed!” Star cheered triumphantly.

Marco nearly jumped out of his skin at his girlfriend’s sudden outburst. “Shh!” he hissed. “Star, it’s  _ three in the morning _ . And I’d hardly call sneaking out to get food at Britta’s Tacos is an ‘adventure’,” He slowly opened the back door to his house, making sure to not wake his parents.

Star shrugged innocently as she skipped into the living room, collapsing on the couch.

Two hefty paper bags filled with grease and salt was dropped between the two of them and Marco sighed, sitting next to Star and draping an arm around her. 

“Hey, remember to not eat the tamale wrapper this time—” 

Too late. She was already chewing on the corn husk. Marco could only shake his head and sigh before diving into his bag of corn chips that were definitely not homemade or natural; despite what the tacky logo promised. Then again, they were pretty cheap...

“I mean what I said, by the way,” Star said, through a mouthful of fries. “It was an adventure.  _ Everything _ I do with you is an adventure, Marco.”

Marco knew he was blushing, but he’d probably deny it tomorrow. Or rather, later today… “Someday,” he mumbled tiredly. “Someday, we’ll go on a real adventure. To Mexico, where they have way better food,” The gross ‘mystery’ sauce was dripping on his hoodie sleeve. _ Lovely _ . “Trust me. I promise.”


	2. N—Z

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more time, kiddos: these are just random out of place bits of fluff, 0% pain, 100% cuteness for these dorks
> 
> e n j oy, y'all.

**Names**

“She looks like a Churro,” Marco argued. “She’s soft and the color of caramel and obviously the sweetest. We’re gonna call her Churro,” He lifted up the sleeping puppy in his arms, blubbering an exaggerated kiss by it’s lopsided ear. “Yeah... Churro. See, she likes it!”

Meanwhile, the other seven puppies gathered around Star, yipping excitedly and zapping her at various angles. She clearly felt overwhelmed — but definitely not in a bad way — by the litter, snatching up as many as she could hold in her arms.

Some of them even nibbled on her dress and bracelets as she sat down on the couch next to Marco. “Hmm, I’m thinking… Star Jr. and Marco Jr. for these two!”

Marco yelped as two of the puppies were dropped into his lap, waking the newly christened Churro.

“Juniors? Really?” he pondered. “Okay, but we need something a little more creative than that—”

“Sajak!” Star blurted out, pointing to the one puppy drooling _on her hair_ of all things. “That was the name of my mom’s aunt’s cousin twice removed!”

Alternate dimensions. Magical wands. Now puppies that shot lasers from their eyes…

...Marco Diaz had _no idea_ what he got himself into, but he was pretty sure it was going to be something he’d never, ever forget.

 

**Observe**

“Aw, gross, are they mackin’ out again?!” Pony Head nearly hollered, before a hand was clamped over her mouth. She yelled some muffled protests, but quickly gave up.

Tom groaned, keeping the bodiless equine quiet as he peered through the tiny window on Marco’s bedroom door. “No, not yet— oh, oh my Gods,” He bit his lip, and his sleeve was tugged on by Janna, who was obviously desperate for details. “Diaz collects My Little Bunny plushies?! And he has Charmer?! That’s limited edition!”

Finally, Pony Head bit Tom’s hand, causing him to yelp and let go. “Who cares about Earth Turd’s lame-o plushies?!” she hissed. “I need to know if he’s gettin’ his stink all over my girl!”

“I thought you guys were friends,” Janna muttered.

“We are, I say all this in love, I swear,” Pony Head shot back, before nudging Tom over to peer into the bedroom. “Oooh, gross, they’re kissing now!”

Tom frowned, folding his arms. “Okay, that’s it,”

He brought a fist to the door, banging quickly.

“Keep your clothes on, you idiots, we’re coming in!”— and with that said, he swung open the door, galavanting in with Pony Head and Janna right behind him. “Did you guys seriously think you could hide this for long?”

“Say cheese!” Janna laughed, holding up her phone and taking a few quick shots of Star and Marco, who hadn’t had enough time to let go of each other. She swiped on her phone a few times before smirking and running off.

 “Oh-ho-ho, this is _totally_ going on Instasnap!”

“Janna!” Marco hollered, immediately letting go of Star and running after his most morbid of friends.

Which left Star all alone, to confront her two best friends. “Heh, hey, guys,” she muttered. “Um…”

“Chill, girl, we knew,” Pony Head scoffed. “We just wanted to embarrass the heck out of you guys. Well, that, and Tommy-boy here is apparently into your boyfriend’s weird plushies,”

Tom frowned, and crossed his arms. “It’s _limited edition_ ,” he argued.

 

**Parents**

Too many tears were shed today; but there were most definitely not tears of pain, but rather ones of relief and joy. Handkerchiefs were soaked, sniffles rang throughout the ballroom and now, many hugs were being shared. Mewni — and it seems that even far beyond that, a little part of Earth, too — had a sense of pride.

And no one could be more proud than four particular adults, strung together by … fate, perhaps.

“We never thanked you, you know,” Angie finally spoke up.

“Thanked us?” Moon asked, perplexed at the human woman’s words. “Whatever for?”

Holding her husband’s hand tightly, Angie glanced to the dancefloor— with the soft blue spotlight illuminating her son and his lovely bride. “Without Star… I don’t think Marco would have become the person he is today,” she mused.

“Yes, yes, we were always so worried he would be stuck as a ‘Safe Kid’ forever, you know?” Rafael spoke up. “We didn’t want our boy to live scared in life.”

“But Star, she made him… believe,” Angie sighed. “So thank you for bringing Star into our lives, so long ago.”

Already teary-eyed as she watched Star lay her head on Marco’s chest as they danced, Moon simply let herself continue to cry. “And thank you for hosting her on Earth,” she mused, laughing a little when River held up his embroidered handkerchief. “We— we seemed to have helped each other,”

River chuckled a little, keeping an arm around Moon’s waist and glancing up at her with a smile. “We always worried our little Star wouldn’t find someone to keep her grounded,” he admitted.

Many would say that day was a happy ending for all the trials that Star and Marco had faced, an epilogue to all the ups and downs, but anyone — especially their parents — could see that it was, indeed, a happy beginning; a new, fresh start for the young loves.

 

**Question**

“What do you want people to say about you when you’re gone?”

 _Well._ That was certainly an appropriate question to ask underneath the stars, on the rooftop of the Diaz house, at precisely 1:59 on this brisk September morning. Star pursed her lips, almost in the form of a pout, and folded her arms as she took a moment to think.

“Like, my legacy?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Marco asked. “W-what you’ll leave behind. How they’ll know you,”

Surprisingly, this was something Star had thought of many, many times. “You know what it says on my tapestry, right?” she mused. “Star the Benevolent? That’s what I want. I want to people know Star Butterfly was always nice, even if being nice was the hardest thing to do. That she always tried to be a good person, to fight for what was right.”

Had Marco asked this haunting question when they first met, it would have been met with paranoia, anxiety and every other nerve-wracking emotion in the book. But now, twenty-one and back home for a bit of relaxation, they had both grown up. Sure, they may have still been two crazy kids who were just figuring things out but deep down… they had a story.

“What about you?” Star asked. “How do you want people to remember the great Marco Diaz?”

“I… I dunno,” Marco mumbled. “I guess, I just want them to know me, y’know? The real me. I don’t want everyone saying I was a hero or the best guy in the world, just that — I was here. I was Marco Diaz. And I lived,” He paused, then let out a breathless laugh. “Nah, that sounds dumb.”

“No,” Star blurted out, her voice like a stage whisper. She rolled over, propping herself up on her elbows to look her boyfriend in the eyes. “That… that sounds nice.”

 

**Repair**

“It’s not much of a castle, but I thought it’d be a nice place for you to come home to when it all gets to be too much,” Marco said sheepishly. “And, y’know,” The apartment’s dingy walls had quite a few holes in them, some old faded posters hanging… it was a bit of a dive. “I just wanted us to have something that’s our own space.”

For a moment, Star just stood there, slowly stepping into the mess that was their new home away from home. She practically glided across the wooden floor — the boards creaking under every step, a few nails sprung from cracks — and stood at the window, taking in the city skyline.

Marco cleared his throat, awkwardly rocking back and forth on his heels and shoving his hands in his pockets. “I know it’s terrible,” he admitted. “But it’s all I could afford— a-and we can fix it, when I’m not at college and you’re not doing Queen stuff.”

Defeated, he sighed, hanging his head.

“I know it sucks, but I wanted us to have a piece of ‘normal’ in our lives,” he muttered.

He heard Star murmur something, but he couldn’t quite make it out. It wasn’t until Marco had a smiling, squealing and giggling girlfriend in his arms did he realize that it was actually all okay.

“It doesn’t suck at all, you dork!” Star beamed. “I love it!” She kissed him on the cheek, and wrapped her arms around his neck, glancing up to the ceiling. “Ooh, we can put fairy lights on the ceiling fan! The Earth kind, not the Mewni kind, I don’t want fairies yelling at me all day— and get some of those tiny cactuses from your house! That’ll be cute!”

“Y-you really like it?” Marco asked, blushing a little.

Star smiled, and nodded eagerly. “Like you said,” she said softly. “It’s a little piece of normal, just for us.”

 

**Shore**

“Mewni might not have summer, but we still have the beach,” Star said, a tiny sheepish grin crossing her expression. “And you gotta watch out when you’re in the water, the Waterfolk Kingdom likes to pull pranks but, um, yeah.”

She stood there, her thin, pink sundress flapping behind her, and holding two small surfboards under her arm. A frilly blue umbrella was perched on her shoulder, the silver sand already staining her pale legs.

“It’s no Earth beach but what do you think?”

Marco was practically melting. One side of the beach was boiling hot, the other half was bone-chilling cold. He was perplexed by the blue-green water, the glitter-like sand and the fact that they were trying to find something peaceful and sweet right after all they had been through, trying to make up for what they lost…

...and it felt so right.

He smiled. “I love it,” he assured.

 

**Tom**

“I want you to watch out for her,” he said, his voice soft, gentle. Almost as if he was scared. “Take care of her for me, Diaz. I love her— of course, not the way you love her. I mean…” Tom faltered, placing his hand on Marco’s shoulder. “I was never just Star’s first boyfriend. I was her first friend. Ever. W-we made mud pies in broken down lava pits together and played House and then I’d burn the house down, y’know? If she killed somebody by casting the wrong spell or whatever, I’m the one who would help her hide the body. And once upon a time, I might have gotten attached to her in all the wrong ways, but you know that story.”

There was an awkward silence between the unlikely friends, and finally, Marco let out a soft laugh. He smiled as he wrapped an arm around the demon prince, in some sort of halfhearted hug.

“I get it, dude, I do,” he assured.

“I know you do,” Tom smiled. “And it’s a good thing we’re already friends or else we’d have to throw down.”

Marco playfully punched his friend in the arm. “I could take you anyday, Lucitor,” he argued. “Black belt.”

Tom smirked. “Fire powers, though,” he rebuked before both young men burst into a fit of laughter. Once the livelihood dwindled into nothing but soft chuckles, the demon looked sincerely at the human besides him; “A-anyway, good luck, man. It’ll be fine.”

“You think so?” Marco asked, almost wistfully.

“She’ll say yes. I know she will,”

 

**Underdog**

“Why were you rooting for Selene Swift?” Marco asked, just as the lights went on in the movie theater.

Star shrugged, fiddling with the straw of her melting blue slurpee. “She was the strongest character of the movie!” she argued. “I mean, sure, Skydancer saved them all from the Great Evil but she screwed up a lot and didn’t once pay for her mistakes— or even say sorry! When Selene messed up, everyone made her feel like the worst person in the world, even though she tried her best to fix it!”

A few seats down, those who had crashed their date were either goofing off or sleeping.

Some chocolate candies tossed by Janna and Kelly just barely missed them, but Marco ignored it while he thought for a minute. “Yeah, I guess,” he mused.

Magical superhero movies weren’t exactly his thing, but it had been Star’s turn to choose the movie this week…

“I hope the next three sequels give Selene a chance,” Star muttered. “She’d be a great Queen of Galexia. Better than Skydancer.”

It took a moment, but suddenly, the puzzle pieces clicked in Marco’s mind. He grinned as he helped Star out of her seat; “Yeah. You’re right. Selene would make a great queen,”

 

**Victor**

“They, uh, they _do_ know you have a boyfriend, right?” Marco asked, nervously adjusting the collar of his princely jacket. “I mean— can they do that? Just send suitors over to you when you’re with me?” Another stranger’s eyes settled on Star and instinctively, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Can I karate chop that one guy? He gives me the heebie-jeebies,”

Star frowned, and gave a sigh of defeat. “On Mewni, you’re just my Knight,” she whispered. “And since I’m the Princess, boyfriends kinda aren’t a thing. You _could_ be my consort, but—”

Marco grinned. “Perfect,” he said. “I’ll be your consort!”

“No, Marco, don’t—” Star was cut off as another suitor stepped forward, bowing to her.

“Duke Redmond, at your service, milady,” His name was certainly fitting, for every bit of his apparel and even his hair matched. “And a happy eighteenth birthday to you, your Highness. Perhaps you and I can celebrate together later?”

That was it. Marco had to stand there and watch all those other guys just… do their thing— and sure, he knew that, unfortunately, it was custom for every Butterfly princess to face suitors on this night but still.

“Hey, buddy,” Marco spoke up, ignoring the panicked glare from Star. “Step off. I’m her consort, okay? Her smooch buddy, her snuggle buddy, _her boyfriend_ ,” Then, he stepped to the side; ignoring Star’s whispered protest and faced the crowd of young men scattered throughout the ballroom; “If any of you want Star, you’re gonna have to go through me!”

Judging from how quiet it went, and the Queen and King’s jaw dropping, Marco knew he had messed up.

One of the skinnier, smaller princes or dukes or what-have-you lifted a sword. “A battle for the Princess’s heart!” he hollered, followed by shouts of agreement. “Victor shall be Mewni’s future king!”

Suddenly, Marco froze and Star was back at his side, hand on his shoulder.

“I … probably should have said that being the consort to the Princess means winning a battle against every other suitor who wants a piece of me. Losers aren’t allowed to show their face at Butterfly Castle ever again,” she mumbled, before getting on her tiptoes to kiss Marco’s cheek— shocked gasps be damned. “You better win.”

 

**Winner**

Two silver poles clattered against one another. A grunt. A yelp. Star nearly lost her footing as she smacked her flagpole against her opponent’s— the red hoodie almost taunting her. Marco smirked, and gave a wink, just enough to get that pink and blue flag to almost drop—

“You’re cheating,” Star almost whined. “You have to be! This is gonna be the fifth year in a row you’ve won!”

“Who says I’m gonna win?” Marco laughed, as he and Star began to use their flagpoles akin to swords.

“B-because!” Star argued. “You somehow always win!”

She tripped, falling back, but grabbing Marco’s flag on the way down, causing the two of them to tumble onto the grass in a mess, wrestling so they could distract the other one from the true goal. All was fair in love and war, after all.

“If you wanna win so badly, Star, just put the flag in the ground!” Marco teased.

“S-shut up!” Star rebuked, attempting to push her boyfriend off of her—

—but they both froze when they heard the familiar soft _thud_ of a flag penetrating the dirt, followed by a high-pitched, gleeful giggle.

“Oh, I’ve forgotten how fun this game is!” Moon beamed. “It’s so... liberating!” She paused, then _tsk_ ’ed awfully loudly at the two young adults tangled up on the ground. “Really, Star, Marco, couldn’t you have saved the lovers’ quarrel for later?”

“Well, there goes my championship,” Marco pouted, while Star remained underneath, blushing as redder than her boyfriend’s ‘flag’.

“This game is stupid,” she mumbled.

 

 

**X-Ray**

“I don’t trust this, Marco,” Star muttered nervously, as she clung to her boyfriend’s arm while they impatiently sat in the waiting room. “Like, _why_ do they all have those creepy white lab coats? And what do magazines have to do with getting better?”

She held up a tacky tabloid, another celebrity divorce or new baby or whatever, and as a doctor walked by, Star hesitantly raised her wand.

Marco sighed, shoving Star’s wand back down to keep it out of sight. “Most doctors wear those jackets, Star,” he assured. “And the magazines… they’re just there, I — I don’t know,”

He almost asked what doctors were like on Mewni. Almost.

“I don’t trust this at all,” Star repeated. “I can zap myself back to normal, y’know.”

“Star, you know what happened last time you used magic to fix a broken bone. And besides, you seriously messed up your ankle,” Marco argued. “Which you wouldn’t have done if you hadn’t tried to ride my bike off of the roof,” He huffed, slumping in his seat, but kept his arm around Star in some sort of attempt to keep her relaxed.

“I thought I could do that cool flip I saw on TV—”

“Starlight Butterfly?” the seemingly sweet, but somewhat older nurse asked from the doorway, clearly puzzled at the name on the sheet she was holding. She looked it for a moment more, before shaking her head, muttering something about ‘ _kids these days_ ’.

Marco shot a reassuring smile Star’s way before helping her out of her seat and guiding her towards the door.

“Alright, well, we’ll just zap to the back and then scan your bones, okay, hon?” the nurse said, her far-too-chipper demeanor almost unsettling…

“Oh, no thanks, lady!” Star yelped, holding out her wand. “No one is zapping me _or_ scanning my bones! You people are _crazy_!”

“Star, wait—”

The protest died on Marco’s lips just as Star summoned the all-too-familiar Cloudy and zipped out of the waiting room, nearly knocking the door off it’s hinges in pure paranoia. A sigh escaped Marco, and without any hesitance, he grabbed a fistful of twenties from his pocket and handed them to the nurse before running after his girlfriend.

 

**Yesterday**

She just… stood there. On the edge of the balcony, wand in hand, one of his hoodies wrapped around her shoulders like Little Red Riding Hood. Her blue eyes without their light, they were worn and weary. She doesn’t smile, she doesn’t cheer for joy.

She almost seemed… lost.

“Are you here to help?” she asked, her voice hollow.

“No,” Marco instantly replied. “I mean, yes? I — I don’t know. I missed you. You just left,” He yelped a little when Star hugged him, her arms tight and firm and hands shaking. “Star, what happened? Just yesterday, everything was fine. W-with _us_ , with Mewni and now—?”

“I don’t wanna talk about yesterday,” Star muttered. “I’m just glad you’re here now.”

Marco faltered a little, before burying his face into Star’s long blonde hair and hugging back just as tight.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Me too.”

 

 

**Zigzag**

Looking back, Marco quickly realized this was indeed the worst date he had ever been on with Star. Even worse than the time Janna locked them in a closet and refused to let them out for a whole half hour. And to be fair, that wasn’t much of a date, more like date gone wrong, but _still._

They were lost.

Completely and utterly lost.

“Take your girlfriend to the fair, I thought,” Marco muttered to himself. “It’ll be fun, I thought.”

He should have known Star, from a land obsessed with corn, would want to do the corn maze. They had walked in at noon, and now, they could hear the P.A. system hollering that the park would close in five minutes. The sun was setting, for crying out loud. Of all the days Marco had asked Star to leave her wand at home for once…

“Ooh, I think if we take two more lefts and another three rights, we’ll hit the exit!” Star beamed— but actually, she was focusing more on eating some corn rather than paying attention to the map.

“Staaar, you said that last time!” Marco whined. “I’m tired, I’m hungry, and no, I don’t want any corn, I wanna go home and sleep!” He let out a shout of exasperation, throwing the hood of his hoodie up and pulling the strings to cover his face. “ _This sucks…_ ”

He felt Star’s soft hands cup his face, and she kissed his forehead, murmuring a gentle apology.

“It’s not your fault, Star,” Marco huffed, and then he practically squealed when he felt himself get lifted up his girlfriend. “Whoa, hey, I know you hug hard, but—”

He was up off the ground.

He heard a familiar buzzing sound.

And then Marco opened his hoodie and yelled in panic.

“You couldn’t have done that earlier?!” he exclaimed once they hit the ground, on the outside of the maze.

“Sorry?” Star said sheepishly, biting back a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much for all of your support, darlings~! hope you enjoyed reading as much as i enjoyed writing.

**Author's Note:**

>  ~~i stole harry styles lyrics for the love sentence song because "sweet creature" is such a starco song~~  
>  oh btw u can thank maggie for the makeout scene she was so thirsty for one so wHO AM I TO DEPRIVE MY FRIENDS
> 
> comments are highly appreciated! c:


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